In response to being called out by Machida, Bisping addressed the
potential fight on his “Believe You Me” podcast. “The Count”
believes a fight with Machida would be a fitting end to his career
and went on to talk about the respect he has for the Brazilian as a
martial artist:

“I’ve no problem with the decision,” Bisping said. “What I do have
a problem with is what Machida said afterwards. I’m only joking; I
don’t really have a problem with it. He called me out, once
again.

“He just said we were supposed to fight a couple of times over the
years and that it hadn’t happened and that basically he had a lot
of respect for me. And I have a lot of respect for Machida, I
really do. As I said on Saturday, he’s one of the true, last
martial arts specialist and one of the true martial artists that
competes in the Octagon, so I have respect for him. Of course,
there was the whole steroid issue, so I don’t want to rehash
Saturday’s show, but there’s always going to be an asterisk over
him.”

“The Rashad fight we spoke about and it didn’t materialize. The
Machida fight is something as well that could potentially serve as
my last fight. [It’s] very similar to Rashad in many ways: former
champion, had a long career, getting to the final stages of his
career, somebody that I haven’t fought and have a lot of respect
for, that’s had a great career. So, it ticks all the boxes from
that standpoint and that’s about it.”

Bisping, who holds the most wins in the UFC, publicly announced
after his title fight with Georges St.
Pierre that he would be hanging up his gloves shortly after a
long and decorated career inside the Octagon. He was interested in
signing to fight on the London card, where the UFC returns in
March.

There were initial rumours that fight would be against former UFC
light heavyweight champion Rashad
Evans, but that fell through.

“As of right now I’ve got to speak to the UFC and figure out what’s
going on for myself so I’m not considering opponents or who they
are. I’ve got to speak with Dana and the UFC guys and figure out
what’s next and what’s happening in life” Bisping continued.

“God bless Machida. Thanks for the call out and we will see what
the future holds.”